Biden, NATO leaders meet as alliance head decries Putin’s ‘big mistake’ with Ukraine
NATO leaders convened in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss overhauling the military alliance’s eastern defenses, a month after Russia invaded Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden arrived in Belgium as NATO’s 30 national leaders were expected to discuss new sanctions and how to coordinate such measures, along with more military aid for Ukraine.
NATO allies are worried about Russian rhetoric and fears that Moscow might want to create a pretext to use chemical weapons in Ukraine. The leaders are likely to agree to send equipment to help Ukraine protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
They’re also set to endorse a move to set up four new multinational battlegroups in Eastern Europe to deter Russia from attacking any NATO members.
But the alliance has rebuffed pleas from Kyiv to impose a no-fly zone to help halt Russia’s onslaught for fear of getting dragged into a “full-fledged” conflict with Moscow.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict does not escalate beyond Ukraine that will cause even more suffering, even more death, even more destruction,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said ahead of the meeting.
Stoltenberg said Putin made a “big mistake” by launching the invasion.
“President Putin has made a big mistake and that is to launch a war against an independent sovereign nation. He has underestimated the strength of the Ukrainian people, the bravery of the Ukrainian people and their armed forces,” he said.
Stoltenberg said the leaders of the US-led alliance would “address the need for a reset of our deterrence and defense in the longer term,” starting with agreeing on new deployments to eastern members Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.
He also said any chemical attack by Russia on Ukraine would change the course of the war, but did not specify whether NATO would take military action.
Asked whether a chemical weapons attack is a red line for NATO, Stoltenberg said, “I will not speculate beyond the fact that NATO is always ready to defend, to protect and to react to any type of attack on a NATO-allied country.”
Stoltenberg said “any use of chemical weapons would fundamentally change the nature of the conflict. It would be a blatant violation of international law, and it will have widespread and severe consequences.”
The meeting of NATO leaders is set to be addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said he would ask the alliance to provide “effective and unrestricted” support to Ukraine — including any weapons the country needs — so it can keep up the pressure on Russia.
NATO officials believe that — armed with an arsenal of Western anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons — Ukrainian forces may have already killed as many as 15,000 Russian soldiers and wounded perhaps 30,000 to 40,000.
Putin’s regime officially puts the number of Russian fallen at under 500, and has introduced draconian censorship laws to prevent independently verified news about what it calls a “special military operation.”
Recent days have brought claims of Ukrainian forces not only repelling attacks from the much larger and much better armed Russian military, but launching counteroffensives and winning back territory around Kyiv.
Ukraine has released little information about its own military losses, and the West has not given an estimate, but Zelensky said nearly two weeks ago that about 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed.
Biden, NATO leaders meet as alliance head decries Putin’s ‘big mistake’ with Ukraine
NATO leaders convened in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss overhauling the military alliance’s eastern defenses, a month after Russia invaded Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden arrived in Belgium as NATO’s 30 national leaders were expected to discuss new sanctions and how to coordinate such measures, along with more military aid for Ukraine.
NATO allies are worried about Russian rhetoric and fears that Moscow might want to create a pretext to use chemical weapons in Ukraine. The leaders are likely to agree to send equipment to help Ukraine protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.
They’re also set to endorse a move to set up four new multinational battlegroups in Eastern Europe to deter Russia from attacking any NATO members.
But the alliance has rebuffed pleas from Kyiv to impose a no-fly zone to help halt Russia’s onslaught for fear of getting dragged into a “full-fledged” conflict with Moscow.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict does not escalate beyond Ukraine that will cause even more suffering, even more death, even more destruction,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said ahead of the meeting.
Stoltenberg said Putin made a “big mistake” by launching the invasion.
“President Putin has made a big mistake and that is to launch a war against an independent sovereign nation. He has underestimated the strength of the Ukrainian people, the bravery of the Ukrainian people and their armed forces,” he said.
Stoltenberg said the leaders of the US-led alliance would “address the need for a reset of our deterrence and defense in the longer term,” starting with agreeing on new deployments to eastern members Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.
He also said any chemical attack by Russia on Ukraine would change the course of the war, but did not specify whether NATO would take military action.
Asked whether a chemical weapons attack is a red line for NATO, Stoltenberg said, “I will not speculate beyond the fact that NATO is always ready to defend, to protect and to react to any type of attack on a NATO-allied country.”
Stoltenberg said “any use of chemical weapons would fundamentally change the nature of the conflict. It would be a blatant violation of international law, and it will have widespread and severe consequences.”
The meeting of NATO leaders is set to be addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said he would ask the alliance to provide “effective and unrestricted” support to Ukraine — including any weapons the country needs — so it can keep up the pressure on Russia.
NATO officials believe that — armed with an arsenal of Western anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons — Ukrainian forces may have already killed as many as 15,000 Russian soldiers and wounded perhaps 30,000 to 40,000.
Putin’s regime officially puts the number of Russian fallen at under 500, and has introduced draconian censorship laws to prevent independently verified news about what it calls a “special military operation.”
Recent days have brought claims of Ukrainian forces not only repelling attacks from the much larger and much better armed Russian military, but launching counteroffensives and winning back territory around Kyiv.
Ukraine has released little information about its own military losses, and the West has not given an estimate, but Zelensky said nearly two weeks ago that about 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed.